Toad and Ana: After the Snow
by Matt1251
Summary: Toad and Ana are an unlikely pair, but still manage to get through trials together, with Snowpoint Peak already behind them. But more challenges face the two friends, with one of them being right in their own kingdom. Join Toad and Ana as they attempt to make their way through the dangers. The first story of these two!
1. Snowpoint Lodge

**Welp, I did it. I'm starting the trilogy of Toad and Ana. Sue me. *shot* Look at the title if you wanna know when this takes place! (After Snowpoint Peak, obviously.) Read, review, and as always, enjoy! I don't expect to get much acclaim from this...**

Chapter 1: Snowpoint Lodge (Hey, I can't come up with anything better!)

_Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. _The breezes at the foot of Snowpoint Peak were almost rhythmic that way, covering the surrounding with a thin coating of its snow. Toad was one of the mountain's surroundings too, as the snow flew in his face.

"Get off of me!" he arbitrarily snapped at the snow, as he shook the snow out. It slipped down the back of his jacket, making his shirt damp and making him colder. "Why does that always happen..." he muttered as he walked further down the mountain. When he arrived at the lodge at the base of the mountain, a sign noting its elevation greeted him. The top of the wooden sign was covered with snow. The words, carved into it, read:

_Snowpoint Peak_

_18,534 feet_

_5,649 meters_

Toad opened the door to the lodge and walked in. He took the time to feel the warmth of the fireplace next to him.

"Close the door!" a Toad climber shouted. "You're letting the cold air in!"

"Sorry, sorry." Toad replied sheepishly as he shut the door behind him. He walked further inside and sighed in comfort as he curled up next to the fireplace. Soon, another person walked in. Toad turned around to see who it was. A girl with orange hair covered with a hood, a blue jacket and purple sweatpants. She waved to him and he waved back. "Hi, Ana."

"Hello, Toad." She smiled and sat down about two feet away from him.

"Is it cold?" Toad asked.

"What do you think?" Ana joked. "It's a snow covered mountain, not a sauna." They both giggled.

"Where's your sister... Kat?" Toad took awhile to remember her name.

"She's back at my house." Ana replied. "We just moved here, and we're a few blocks from Peach's Castle."

"What's she like?"

"She's bossy sometimes." Ana sighed as she repositioned herself. "But overall she's really nice. I think you two will get along well." She smiled.

"Yeah..." Toad agreed, and smiled too. They lay by the fireplace and warmed themselves up. Ana took off the hood on her head, revealing her orange hair in full view. Toad noticed a flower in her hair. "Why is that there?" He pointed to the flower.

"Well, I've always had a thing for nature, and so does Kat." Ana explained. "It's kinda wierd... Most of my friends say so, like 18-Volt." She looked away.

"I don't think it's wierd." Toad replied. "I think it's really cool."

"Thanks..." Ana looked further away.

"Why are you so shy, Ana?" Toad asked.

"S-shy?" Ana asked, her stammering returning. "I-I'm not shy! It's just that I n-never thought I would meet you by s-saving your life, Toad."

"That's true." Toad agreed. "I never thought you would save me the way you did. That must have been insane, standing out in the cold with no clothing to protect you."

"Toad, it was nothing... Really... I just want to help out..." Ana looked away further, and the situation was turning out to be just like the one at base camp, 6,250 feet upwards.

"It really is insane though..." Toad trailed off and looked at Ana's back, turned away from him. "I never thought a little girl like you can go to such great lengths to save an idiot like me..."

"You're not an idiot, Toad." Ana turned a bit towards him.

"Yeah I am." Toad hung his head. "An idiot who doesn't look where he's going." Ana giggled.

"Don't be such a downer!" She giggled and turned towards him.

_Her laugh sounds so cute... _Toad thought, but didn't have the courage to say it. "You're really a good friend, Ana." He brightened up and smiled. Ana looked into his eyes.

"You are too, Toad." She smiled and laid down next to him. Toad smiled warmly at her and they lay by the fireplace together.

"So is Kat gonna pick us up?" Toad asked casually.

"Yeah. She will tomorrow. Wanna just... hang here for the night?" Ana inquired, and Toad smiled.

"That sounds perfect." Toad took Ana's hand, and they smiled, looking into each other's eyes.

Then the door opened.

To be continued...


	2. Climber's Company

**Remember, this is an independent plot, so Toad doesn't know Toadette in this story. This may be the longest chapter I've written!**

Chapter 2: Climber's Company

The door revealed a Blue Toad, with a vest covered with snow. He instantly faltered and stepped back, thinking that he was ruining Toad and Ana's moment.

"Oh! I'm s-sorry... sorry for barging in on you two." The Toad apologized.

"It's alright." Toad replied, smiling.

"May I c-come in?" the Toad asked.

"Sure!" Toad answered, and the Toad ran over, sticking his hands next to the fire.

"Ahh..." he sighed in comfort.

"How far did you go up the mountain?" Ana asked, noting his climbing apparatus and the snow covering him, slowly beginning to melt because of the heat.

"The highest marker I passed was 12,000 feet." the Toad stated.

"Markers? I never noticed." Ana admitted, chuckling. "All I cared about was getting to the top." Now they all were giggling.

"There are markers that show how high you are every... I wanna say 250 feet." Toad said, unsure of his estimation.

"Anyways, this one cliff had this vertical overhang that I couldn't find any real purchase on, so I backtracked trying to find a way around, and by then I just gave up." the Toad explained.

"Oh, I came to that too." Ana piped up. "I simply jumped off the middle of it, grabbed the overhang and climbed up."

"How do you make it that _easy?_" the climber asked, speechless.

"I never said it was easy. It took me a few tries."

"So what's your name anyways?" Toad asked.

"The name's Gabriel. You can call me Gabe." Gabe said.

"Nice to meet you, Gabe." Ana stood up and took Gabe's hand. "I'm Ana."

"Nice to meet you, Ana." Gabe replied, shaking Ana's hand.

"Well, I'd better leave. It's getting late, and I gotta go back to my quarters. Night, Toad. Night, Ana." Gabe walked off, waving, picking up his backpack, the clatter of pots and pans filling the room.

"Good night, Gabe." the two others replied, and Gabe walked out and shut the door behind him, the metallic clatter fading with his steps. Toad turned back to Ana.

"I don't have anything to sleep on here... I didn't even set up camp. I'm an idiot like that sometimes."

"Don't worry!" Ana chuckled. "I didn't bring anything either. I'm what you call a light traveler."

"Well..." Toad looked around the room with the fireplace in it, seeing beanbags around the floor. "We can sleep on those." Ana looked, and smiled.

"Sounds good. But one thing... What do you mean by 'those'?" Toad was confused.

"I mean the beanbag chairs, silly!"

"No, no, another thing. If 'those' implies multiples..." Ana took the largest beanbag she could find, about four feet in diameter, and pushed it between them. "Then why can't we just use one?" Toad blushed.

"Do you seriously wanna sleep with me? I just met you..."

"Well, not really in a romantic sense! Just in a friends sense."

"Well..." Toad contemplated it for a second. "Okay." He laid on the left side of the beanbag, and Ana laid on the right side. They sighed in contentment, laying on their backs.

"Wait, I totally forgot to change, didn't I?" Toad giggled and stood up. "Give me a second." He trotted off towards the men's restroom, located outside the lodge in a separate building, windows at the tops of the walls.

"I did too! No worries!" Ana called, as she followed him to the restrooms. Several minutes passed. Whistling could be heard outside the wooden doors. Finally, Toad came out wearing blue footie pajamas, throwing open the door, followed by Ana seconds later, wearing pink ones. Instantly she ran.

"Oh, that's cold!" She ran to the lodge as fast as her feet could carry her. "Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold!" Toad giggled as he walked after her. When Toad walked into the lodge, Ana was by the fire, sighing in warmth.

"Ahhh..." Toad giggled some more.

"How was it cold out there? I was perfectly fine."

"I don't know... I guess I stepped on ice or something." Toad looked at her choice of attire.

"Looks like we have the same interest in fashion." Toad noticed, gesturing to their pajamas and their similar designs.

"Yeah, we do." Ana smiled, looking at the similarities. All that was different was their color and the fact that Toad had his chest zipper unzipped.

"Oh, and I got my zipper down cause it's pretty much my normality to wear a vest, you know? So this is pretty similar." Toad said as in answer to a question, even though Ana hadn't asked anything.

"I get it. And I don't really think it's weird or anything, if you're wondering that. In fact I think it... I think it looks better." Ana admitted.

"T-thank you." Toad blushed a bit, as he laid down on the beanbag again, with Ana next to him.

"Don't mention it, Toad. You little cutie." Ana cooed, but instantly covered her mouth and pulled away. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Oh my goodness! I didn't mean to say that..."

"No, no, it's perfectly fine. You can let out anything." Toad smiled.

"Really?" Ana asked, moving a bit closer.

"Of course, Ana. No need to be shy. You can say anything to me."

"Thanks, Toad." Ana smiled and laid down next to him. Minutes passed. "Toad?"

"Yeah?" Toad asked, ruffling his pajamas a bit.

"I need to tell you something." Ana said.

"Shoot." Toad coaxed.

"If it feels like I'm rushing into this... It's because I feel lonely sometimes. I don't really have any real friends in here at the moment, you know? All I have is Kat, and she can be annoying sometimes... Point is, I don't really have anyone I can share my feelings to or talk with..." She began to sniffle, and Toad took her hand.

"Ana, it's okay... I feel like that too sometimes. I don't really have any friends I can talk with regularly either... Since I'm a Toad and all, people usually don't rely on me unless they're desperate..."

"Thank you for understanding me, Toad... No one's ever seen my point in this..."

"It's no problem, Ana." Toad assured, squeezing her hand. "And I really don't think you're rushing into this friendship at all... even if you are, you have a good reason, after all you've been through."

"Really, Toad... No one has understood me the way you do... so thank you..."

"I try to think about what the other person is going through in these kinds of things." Toad explained.

"Well, it works..." Ana sniffled again. "It's heartwarming that someone understands... and in this way too..."

"It's really nothing, Ana." Toad squeezed her hand again. "If people knew what you were going through, they would understand too. I know that you're a very nice person and you don't deserve to be shut out like that." Ana covered her mouth in surprise.

"You... you think I'm nice?" Toad nodded.

"I think you're really kind and caring too."

"R-really?" Ana moved a bit closer, hopefulness in her voice. "You r-really mean it?" Toad nodded again, and Ana wasted no time in flying towards him and holding him close to her.

"Ana!" Toad giggled at the sudden movement.

"What's the matter?" Ana joked. "Can't take my hugs?" She giggled and held him tighter. After a few minutes, they pulled away. Toad giggled again, smiled at Ana, and went to turn off the light.

"Wait." Ana said, and Toad stopped. "I can do it." Toad laid back down on the beanbag with Ana. She pulled out her bo staff and threw it at the light switch. The light turned off, and they could hear the wooden staff clattering to the floor.

"Nice throw." Toad smiled.

"Thanks." Ana replied casually, smiling back at him. The only source of light was the orange glow of the fireplace, lighting them up comfortingly.

"Good night, Ana." Toad smiled, laid down on the beanbag one last time, and closed his eyes.

"Good night... Toad." She scooted a bit closer, Toad not knowing because he was facing the other way. After a little while, she closed her eyes as well, drifting off to sleep, and smiled.

To be continued...


	3. Sharing Stories

Chapter 3: Sharing Stories

Toad and Ana laid on their beanbag, sleeping through the night soundly. There was no alarm clock to wake them up, however, so Ana woke before Toad. Daylight was just beginning to show up outside. Ana yawned, her ponytails of orange hair flopping down behind her head. She then gazed at Toad, who was still sleeping.

_He's pretty... cute like this... _A faint pink blush formed on her cheeks. She turned away, not wanting it to grow into something noticeable. She sat on the beanbag for a minute, looking at the broadening daylight, filtering through the window. _I think the fireplace's light is better. _She turned the handle to close the blinds, allowing the fireplace's warm glow to dominate once again. She looked at Toad again, his form illuminated by the orange heat of the fire. This time, she visibly blushed, her face turning pink, and looked away again. Minutes passed, Ana laying down once again next to him, looking up at the ceiling. Finally, she heard an audible yawn, and moved away, as Toad stretched out and sunk into the beanbag.

"Good morning..." He yawned again, and turned to where she was. "Ana." he finished, and smiled at her. She smiled back, trying to make the blush fade away from her cheeks, which surprisingly worked.

"Morning, Toad."

"I see you're..." He stood up. "up early."

"Yeah. I'm pretty much the early bird. I always wake up before Kat. And I mean _always. _Seriously, she's the sleepyhead between us." Toad chuckled.

"So what should we do?" Toad asked.

"Well, we should probably get dressed first..." Ana looked out the window, to see the restrooms boarded up. "What? Oh no!"

"What?" Toad rushed to her and looked out the window himself. There was a sign next to the door. It read:

_Pipes are frozen up in both restrooms. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and will try to fix the problem as soon as possible. _

_~Snowpoint Lodge Management_

"So what do we do?" Toad asked, turning to Ana.

"We're _not_ using the porta-potty to change." Ana affirmed. "We just aren't."

"Yeah, I knew that already." Toad agreed, and cringed. "But what are we gonna use, then?"

"I don't know..." Ana answered, looking away and trying to think up a solution.

"How about we just look away from each other and change in here?" Toad asked. Ana blushed, though Toad didn't see, but she knew it was the only option, at least at the moment.

"Yeah... but you have to _promise _not to look."

"I promise." Toad assured.

"Pinky promise?" Ana held out her pinky finger, and they both giggled.

"Pinky promise." He shook his pinky finger with hers, and they turned away from each other and changed into their new clothes. However, when Ana was finished, she turned around and saw Toad still putting on his vest. He slipped it on before Ana could get a clear view. _That was close..._ she thought, blushing a bit as Toad walked over.

"So, when's Kat coming?" he asked casually.

"I don't know, to be honest. She comes whenever she feels like it mostly. It's her personality." Ana explained.

"Alright. How about we go downstairs and get some breakfast, huh?" Toad smiled and took Ana's hand. And nodded and smiled as they both walked out of their room and down the stairs. They walked to see a buffet with scrambled eggs, pancakes, chorizo, and the like. They both got two pancakes and drizzled syrup over them. Toad got a pat of butter and some bacon to go along with it, while Ana did not. They both sat down, and Toad saw Ana's plate.

"That seems like a... pretty small meal there." he said, and Ana stood up.

"How many pancakes are there?"

"Two."

"Whoopsies!" She walked to the buffet and got something. When she came back, her stack was a bit taller. "I meant to get three."

"Oh." Toad smiled. "That makes sense." They ate up in silence for a few seconds, cutting the pancakes and diving in.

"So where did you come from?" Toad asked.

"We came from Diamond City." Ana replied.

"Where's that?" Toad followed up, as a fellow climber passed behind him.

"It's in Warioware Incorporated." Ana followed back. "It was a two day walk from there to here. And Kat was bugging me the _entire time_."

"Wait, two days? And you _walked_?" Toad asked, incredulous. "Why didn't you ask your parent-"

"Our parents are dead." Ana interrupted, calmly.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry..." Toad moved away. "Is that a... touchy subject?"

"Kinda. We lost them in a ninja ambush when we were just babies. We were terribly at war with a rival clan then... And since we were babies, we didn't even know that they were gone until someone picked us up and cared for us... Naturally, when we found out about two years later, we broke away from them and decided to live on our own... Cause we're ninjas. We can take care of ourselves way better than you might think." Ana explained.

"I understand..." Toad trailed off, moving closer to her. "That must be a living hell for you."

"I don't normally tell this to anyone but my closest friends..." Ana admitted. "I think I can trust you."

"Thank you..." Toad smiled warmly, picked up his chair, put it down next to Ana's, and sat in it. "And you can trust me with anything. I swear I won't tell a soul. Servant's honor." He saluted, and a giggle escaped from Ana. Then as if on cue, the door to the lodge opened, and they turned to look. They heard a voice. For Ana, a very familiar voice.

"I heard everything."

To be continued...


End file.
